{"product_id":"9780300240214","title":"Against The Grain - James Scott","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"rm-content_0\" data-readmore-state=\"open\" data-toggle-less-aria-label=\"Read less Synopsis for Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States\" data-toggle-more-aria-label=\"Read more Synopsis for Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States\" class=\"readmore-toggle\" tabindex=\"0\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-test-id=\"synopsis-body\" class=\"synopsis-body\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn account of all the new and surprising evidence now available that contradicts the standard narrative for the beginnings of the earliest civilizations\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eEconomist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eBest History Book 2017\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Scott is one of those rare academics whose writing is a thing of beauty.”—Rana Dasgupta,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Week\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Scott hits the nail squarely on the head by exposing the staggering price our ancestors paid for civilization and political order.”—Walter Scheidel,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eWhy did humans abandon hunting and gathering for sedentary communities dependent on livestock and cereal grains, and governed by precursors of today’s states? Most people believe that plant and animal domestication allowed humans, finally, to settle down and form agricultural villages, towns, and states, which made possible civilization, law, public order, and a presumably secure way of living. But archaeological and historical evidence challenges this narrative. The first agrarian states, says James C. Scott, were born of accumulations of domestications: first fire, then plants, livestock, subjects of the state, captives, and finally women in the patriarchal family—all of which can be viewed as a way of gaining control over reproduction.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eScott explores why we avoided sedentism and plow agriculture, the advantages of mobile subsistence, the unforeseeable disease epidemics arising from crowding plants, animals, and grain, and why all early states are based on millets and cereal grains and unfree labor. He also discusses the “barbarians” who long evaded state control, as a way of understanding continuing tension between states and nonsubject peoples.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp id=\"synopsis-disclaimer-text\" class=\"block\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"synopsis\" may belong to another edition of this title.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Ingram","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52322543534362,"sku":"9780300240214","price":30.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0790\/0184\/6042\/files\/ibg.common.titledetail_1.gif?v=1780784601","url":"https:\/\/www.musicandbooksayr.com\/products\/9780300240214","provider":"Music \u0026 Books Ayr","version":"1.0","type":"link"}